Novice Players Research Articles

Effect of Quiet Eye and Quiet Mind Training on Motor Learning Among Novice Dart Players.

In sport such as darts, athletes are particularly challenged by demands for concentration, skills underpinned by implicit learning, and fine motor skill control. Several techniques have been proposed to improve the implicit learning of such skills, including quiet eye training (QET) and quiet mind training (QMT). Here, the authors tested whether and to what extent QET or QMT, compared with a control condition, might improve skills among novice dart players. In total, 30 novice dart players were randomly assigned either to the QET, QMT, or a control condition. Dart playing skills were assessed four times: at the baseline, 7 days later, under stress conditions, and at the study's end. Over time, errors reduced, but more so in the QET and QMT conditions than in the control condition. The pattern of the results indicates that, among novice dart players and compared with a control condition, both QET and QMT provide significant improvements in implicit learning.

Combined Influences of Particular Exercises with Digital Equipment Practices on Selected Skill Variables and Overall Playing Ability of Badminton Novice Players

To attain the aim of the research thirty badminton novice players were taken from Maruthi sports training centre, Periyanaickenpalayam ,CBE. The age of the subjects between 13 -16 years. The subjects are divided in two groups with equal number of novice players. Training group-I with (n=15) novice players were given particular exercises with digital shuttle feeding machine practices with 12 weeks continuously, weekly 5 days allowed for practices given. other group-II acted with their regular activities. The training group tested on skill components like long service, short service and overall playing ability. The selected criterion variables long service was tested Poole long service, short service was tested with French short service and overall playing ability was tested with qualified judges. The collected scored of test before and after the training have taken for statistical analysis with paired ‘t’ test and ANCOVA. The significant level is fixed 0.05. The outcomes of the research showed that training group improved selected skill components like long service, short service and all efficiency ability was due to the combined influences of particular exercises with digital shuttle feeding machine practices programme. The second group which one acted with regular activities did not show any improvement on selected skill components with overall playing ability of badminton novice players.

Effects of Integrative Neuromuscular Training and Detraining on Countermovement Jump Performance in Youth Volleyball Players.

Nunes, ACCA, Cattuzzo, MT, Faigenbaum, AD, and Mortatti, AL. Effects of integrative neuromuscular training and detraining on countermovement jump performance in youth volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 35(8): 2242-2247, 2021-The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of integrative neuromuscular training (INT) on countermovement vertical jump height (CVJH) performance in youth volleyball players before and after a detraining period. Thirty-two novice volleyball players were cluster randomized into 2 groups: intervention group-INT (age: 13.1 ± 0.4 years; body mass: 55.3 ± 12.1 kg; and height: 161.1 ± 6.4 cm) and control group-CON (age: 12.8 ± 0.7 years; body mass: 51.8 ± 13.6 kg; and height: 160.1 ± 10.7 cm). The subjects were evaluated for somatic maturation (years from peak height velocity) and for CVJH performance at 4 time points during the 20-week study period: baseline, 6 weeks of INT, 12 weeks of INT, and 8 weeks after INT (detraining). The analysis used repeated-measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test to identify possible differences in the CVJH delta in both groups. Spearman correlation was performed to verify the association between the values of the vertical jump tests and maturational levels found. The INT showed a significant improvement in the CVJH from baseline to 12 weeks and maintained training-induced gains after detraining period (p > 0.001). Significant increase in CVJH was found in the percentage of change (Δ%) from baseline to 6 weeks (p < 0.005), 12 weeks (p < 0.001), and detraining (p < 0.001) in INT compared with the CON. The results of this study indicate that INT was able to improve CVJH performance in novice youth volleyball players and these gains were sustained during the detraining period. These findings indicate that regular participation in supervised INT can enhance jumping performance in young volleyball players, and that this type of neuromuscular program may be particularly beneficial for youth with limited fundamental motor skill performance.

Should agility training for novice badminton players be physically or perceptually challenging?

Despite its well-known importance in sports, agility is ambiguously defined and lack of research. Shuttle Run (SR) challenges physical quickness and is commonly used to improve the on-court agility of badminton players. In contrast, Reactive Initiation Training (RIT) challenges perceptual quickness, merely demanding rapid initiation of step toward the direction of shuttlecock. The current study explores to compare SR with RIT to determine the relative effectiveness of these training on improving the on-court agility of badminton. 20 novice badminton players were split in half to receive either RIT or SR on court for five days. Before and after training, the on-court agility test with and without anticipation was administered. The results showed that both training methods shortened the mean running time, however, only RIT additionally reduced the initiation time and its proportion on those time-consuming positions when agility was assessed without anticipation. Therefore, the agility training for novice badminton players should be more perceptually than physically challenging to avoid vain effort and unnecessary injuries.

Acute Effects of Mental Activity on Response of Serum BDNF and IGF-1 Levels in Elite and Novice Chess Players.

Background and Objectives: Although the effects of physical exercise on brain functions are well studied, the influence of mental activity is unknown. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of a session of mental activity on brain neurobiological factors in chess players. Materials and Methods: Ten elite and novice chess players were recruited to participate in this study as volunteers. The subjects performed a session of standard chess matches as a mental activity. Before and after each chess match, blood samples were drawn to analyze changes in serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). Results: After each chess match, both the elite and novice groups showed significant increases in serum BDNF and IGF-1 concentrations. The elite group also showed significantly greater changes in BDNF and IGF-1 levels (p ≤ 0.05) than the novice group. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that a session of standard chess matches as a mental activity is effective for elevating BDNF and IGF-1 levels, and that their elevation in elite players seems to be more pronounced than those in novice players.

The Influence of Pitch-by-Pitch Feedback on Neural Activity and Pitch Perception in Baseball.

This study was designed to examine the influence of performance feedback on task performance and neural activity in expert and novice baseball players. Participants completed a video task to determine whether thrown pitches were balls or strikes while their neural activity was recorded. After each pitch, participants were given feedback on the accuracy of their choice. Results indicated that college players exhibited larger frontocentral positivity amplitudes compared with novices, regardless of feedback type. Furthermore, results showed that the feedback-related negativity was related to response accuracy following incorrect feedback for college players, with larger feedback-related negativity amplitude associated with greater response accuracy. This relationship is independent of any relations between overall task accuracy and either feedback-related negativity amplitude or response accuracy following incorrect feedback. These results indicate that the nature of neural activity during pitch feedback for college baseball players can inform and influence participants' subsequent pitch-location performance.

The effects of self-controlled and instructor-controlled feedback on motor learning and intrinsic motivation among novice adolescent taekwondo players

Background: Although the useful effects of self-controlled feedback on motor skills learning have been proven, a study dealing with the effects of self-controlled and instructor-controlled feedback on learning and intrinsic motivation among novice taekwondo players has so far not been conducted. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of self-controlled and instructor-controlled feedback on learning the ap chagi technique and intrinsic motivation among novice adolescent taekwondo players. Methods: Thirty participants (12.43 ± 2.08 years) were selected purposefully and homogeneously based on pre-test scores. They were categorized in the three groups, namely self-control, yoked, and instructor-control. The acquisition phase consisted of 100 ap chagi in 10 blocks of 10 trials. The practices were done over four days and the retention test was conducted 48 hours after the last practice session. The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was administered to evaluate participants' subjective experience associated with the target task. The task included the ap chagi technique that contained five sub-scales were derived from the evaluation form of World Taekwondo Federation for rating the trials. Mixed and one-way ANOVA models were utilized to analyze the data. Results: The results demonstrated that self-control group have better ap chagi performance during retention test compared to other groups (p = .007). Moreover, the results of intrinsic motivation questionnaire indicated that motivation of self-control group was higher, especially in terms of perceived competence (p = .004) than the other two groups. Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed the usefulness of self-controlled feedback for motor learning by way of an ap chagi technique task. Feedback also affects a learner's intrinsic motivation, which, in turn, seems to improve learning.

A Functional Link Between Mental Representation in Long-Term Memory and Cognitive Performance in Working Memory.

Although there have been various attempts to identify the perceptual-cognitive mechanisms underlying the superior performance of skilled players over novices in sports, few studies have examined the relationship between mental representations and cognitive performance according to the skill levels of players. The purpose of this study was to investigate the functional link between mental representations in long-term memory and cognitive information processing ability in working memory by analyzing mental representation structure and cognitive performance according to skill level. Twenty male skilled and 25 male novice tennis players participated in this study. Structural dimensional analysis of mental representation was used to evaluate the mental representation structure of a tennis serve. In addition, cognition and movement chronometry was used to assess the cognitive performance of a tennis serve in working memory. Results of the representational analysis showed that the similarity of the skilled players to the standard representation structure was higher than that of novices. Furthermore, results in cognitive performance showed that the skilled players had a higher accuracy and shorter response time compared to the novices. Finally, a significant correlation between the adjusted Rand index and cognition movement chronometry accuracy was observed. Taken together, the mental representation structure and cognitive performance of the skilled players were superior to those of the novices, and mental representations were positively correlated with the accuracy of the cognitive information processing. These results imply that the degree of functional connection between working memory and long-term memory may be used as a perceptual-cognitive factor to explain improvement in performance.

Processing of Prediction Errors in Mentalizing Areas.

When seeing people perform actions, we are able to quickly predict the action's outcomes. These predictions are not solely based on the observed actions themselves but utilize our prior knowledge of others. It has been suggested that observed outcomes that are not in line with these predictions result in prediction errors, which require additional processing to be integrated or updated. However, there is no consensus on whether this is indeed the case for the kind of high-level social-cognitive processes involved in action observation. In this fMRI study, we investigated whether observation of unexpected outcomes causes additional activation in line with the processing of prediction errors and, if so, whether this activation overlaps with activation in brain areas typically associated with social-cognitive processes. In the first part of the experiment, participants watched animated movies of two people playing a bowling game, one experienced and one novice player. In cases where the player's score was higher or lower than expected based on their skill level, there was increased BOLD activity in areas that were also activated during a theory of mind task that participants performed in the second part of the experiment. These findings are discussed in the light of different theoretical accounts of human social-cognitive processing.

Changed hub and functional connectivity patterns of the posterior fusiform gyrus in chess experts.

The hubs of the brain network play a key role in integrating and transferring information between different functional modules. However, the effects of long-term practice on functional network hubs in chess experts are largely undefined. Here, we investigated whether alterations of hubs can be detected in chess experts using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) and graph theory methods. We first mapped the whole-brain voxel-wise functional connectivity and calculated the functional connectivity strength (FCS) map in each of the 28 chess players and 27 gender- and age-matched healthy novice players. Whole-brain resting-state functional connectivity analyses for the changed hub areas were conducted to further elucidate the corresponding changes of functional connectivity patterns in chess players. The hub analysis revealed increased FCS in the right posterior fusiform gyrus of the chess players, which was supported by analyses of this area's regional homogeneity (ReHo), amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (fALFF). The following functional connectivity analyses revealed increased functional connectivities between the right posterior fusiform gyrus and the visuospatial attention and motor networks in chess players. These findings demonstrate that cognitive expertise has a positive influence on the functions of the brain regions associated with the chess expertise and that increased functional connections might in turn facilitate within and between networks communication for expert behavior to get superior performance.

Assessment of the performance of novice futsal players in the execution of futsal-specific motor skills

PurposeTo compare the performance in the execution of specific motor skills among novice futsal players in 3 competitive categories (U-7, U-9, and U-11) and to compare their performance in specific motor skills during the offensive and defensive phases of the game.MethodsTen specific motor skills were investigated, including 6 offensive actions and 4 defensive actions, in 49 futsal players aged 6–11 years. Technical performance was analysed in terms of the number of actions, the effectiveness of the action (successful or unsuccessful), and where the action occurred (offensive or defensive midfield). One-way ANOVA was used with the Tukey test, when appropriate, or Student’s t-test, with a significance level of 5%.ResultsPlayers in the older categories were more effective defensively than those in the younger categories (F&lt;sub&gt;2,46&lt;/sub&gt; = 6.04, p &lt; 0.01, η&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt; = 0.21). The two older groups had an approximately two- and three-fold greater chance, respectively, of executing successful defensive technical actions (&lt;i&gt;OR&lt;/i&gt; = 1.82, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.05; &lt;i&gt;OR&lt;/i&gt; = 2.83, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.01). Furthermore, the players were more technically effective in the offensive phase of the game than in the defensive phase (&lt;i&gt;M&lt;/i&gt; = 41.35, &lt;i&gt;SD&lt;/i&gt; = 21.53 and &lt;i&gt;M&lt;/i&gt; = 16.47, &lt;i&gt;SD&lt;/i&gt; = 7.90, respectively; t&lt;sub&gt;96&lt;/sub&gt; = 7.60, &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.01, &lt;i&gt;d&lt;/i&gt; = 1.69).ConclusionsPlayers in older competitive categories were more effective, and players were more effective offensively than defensively.

Effect of sand training on selected physical fitness variables among novice men hockey players

Effect of sand training on selected physical fitness variables among novice men hockey players

Experts integrate explicit contextual priors and environmental information to improve anticipation efficiency.

The understanding of how experts integrate prior situation-specific information (i.e., contextual priors) with emergent visual information when performing dynamic and temporally constrained tasks is limited. We used a soccer-based anticipation task to examine the ability of expert and novice players to integrate prior information about an opponent's action tendencies with unfolding environmental information such as opponent kinematics. We recorded gaze behaviors and ongoing expectations during task performance. Moreover, we assessed their final anticipatory judgments and perceived levels of cognitive effort invested. Explicit contextual priors biased the allocation of visual attention and shaped ongoing expectations in experts but not in novices. When the final action was congruent with the most likely action given the opponent's action tendencies, the contextual priors enhanced the final judgments for both groups. For incongruent trials, the explicit priors had a negative impact on the final judgments of novices but not experts. We interpreted the data using a Bayesian framework to provide novel insights into how contextual priors and dynamic environmental information are combined when making decisions under time pressure. Moreover, we provide evidence that this integration is governed by the temporal relevance of the information at hand as well as the ability to infer this relevance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Informational constraints, option generation, and anticipation

ObjectivesTo determine the option generation strategies used by expert and novice tennis players when anticipating an opponent’s intentions using information that would normally be picked up sequentially prior to the opponent striking the ball. Design and methodAltogether, 12 expert and 14 novice tennis players completed an option generation task when presented with rallies from real matches under two display conditions, namely video film and animation. Rallies were presented in such a way that participants either had access to contextual information and postural cues (video) or solely contextual information (animation; e.g., player positioning, shot sequencing). ResultsThe experts were more accurate than novices in both display conditions. Participants generated less options in the video compared with the animated condition. More often than not, participants chose the first option they generated. The expert participants generated more task-relevant and fewer task-irrelevant options than novices, with this effect being stronger in the animated than the video condition. The number of options generated was negatively related to performance in the video condition only. ConclusionsIn dynamic, time-constrained tasks, performers adapt their option generation strategy depending on the information available. In keeping with Long Term Working Memory theory (Ericsson & Kintsch, 1995), when constrained to anticipate based on contextual information alone, effective anticipation is underpinned by being able to access the likely outcome and potential relevant alternatives. Moreover, when pertinent postural cues become available, option generation strategies consistent with the Take The First heuristic model may be optimal (Johnson & Raab, 2003). Implications for performance and training are discussed.

Pattern recall, decision making and talent identification in rugby union

The ability to make fast, accurate decisions is an essential skill for all who play sport. However, measuring this ability has proved difficult for coaches and talent identification practitioners. Pattern recognition (a key factor in decision making) has commonly been measured using pattern recall tasks. This study aimed to understand whether accuracy when recalling rugby union patterns is a valid measure of on-field decision making performance. In Study 1, professional players recalled structured patterns of players from still images (N = 20) viewed for 5 s. On-field decision-making markers, including coaches’ rankings of decision-making ability, playing position, number of years playing professionally and total number of years playing rugby union, were used as predictor variables of recall accuracy. Results showed that only total number of years playing rugby union was correlated with recall accuracy, suggesting that caution is necessary when adopting these tasks for talent identification purposes. The structured stimuli used in Study 1 were not representative of a true rugby union game, so Study 2 tested novice and expert players on a pattern recall task that included structured, semi-structured and unstructured rugby union patterns. Experts were significantly more accurate than novices when recalling structured and semi-structured patterns; however, there were no differences when recalling unstructured patterns. It was concluded that structured and semi-structured patterns should be used in future studies to test whether pattern recall tasks can be used for talent identification in rugby union.

Effects of Quiet Mind Training on Alpha Power Suppression and Fine Motor Skill Acquisition

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Quiet Mind Training (QMT) on Alpha power suppression and fine motor skill acquisition among novice dart players. 30 novice dart players were randomly assigned either to a QMT or a control condition. Playing skills and Alpha power suppression were assessed at four time-points: at baseline, retention test 1, under pressure conditions, at retention test 2. Over time, Alpha power suppression increased and radial errors decreased but more so in the QMT condition than in the control condition. In contrast to the control condition, darts performance and Alpha power suppression in the QMT condition were also stable under pressure conditions. Results indicated that QMT successfully suppressed Alpha power and improved implicit learning skills.

Can Slow-Motion Footage of Forehand Strokes Be Used to Immediately Improve Anticipatory Judgments in Tennis?

Slow-motion footage of sports actions is widely used as a visual learning tool in observing the dynamic motor behaviors of athletes. Recent studies on action observation have reported that extending the observation time in slow-motion footage provides benefits of understanding the intention of an opponent’s action, at least when observing rapid movements. As such, the use of slow-motion footage may have the potential to improve the anticipatory judgments of an opponent’s action outcome without training (or feedback). To verify this possibility, we examined the effects of the replay speed of slow-motion footage on the anticipatory judgments of shot directions and recognition of kinematic positions of opponents’ forehand strokes in tennis. Nine skilled and nine novice tennis players were asked to anticipate the direction of their opponent’s shots (left or right) and then attempted to recognize proximal (trunk center) and distal (ball) kinematic positions. Computer graphic animations of forehand strokes were used as visual stimuli, which were presented at four different replay speeds (normal, three-quarter, half, and quarter speeds). We failed to show the immediate effect of the use of slow-motion footage on the anticipatory performance of the skilled and novice players, although the anticipatory performance of the skilled players was superior to that of the novice players. Instead, we found an effect of the use of slow-motion footage in terms of promoting recognition of important kinematic cues (trunk center) for effective anticipation by skilled players. Moreover, no significant correlations were observed between the anticipatory judgments and motion recognition in all experimental conditions. These results suggest that even if the use of slow-motion footage enhances the recognition of key kinematic cues, it may not immediately improve anticipatory judgments in tennis.

Talin: A Framework for Dynamic Tutorials Based on the Skill Atoms Theory

Most tutorials in video games do not consider the skill level of the player when deciding what information to present. This makes many tutorials either tedious for experienced players or not informative enough for players who are new to the given genre. With Talin, implemented as an asset in the Unity game engine, we make it possible to create a mastery model of an individual player's skill levels by operationalizing Dan Cook's skill atom theory. We propose that using this mastery model opens up a new design space when it comes to designing tutorials. We show an example tutorial implementation with Talin assembled using only graphical components provided by our framework, without the need of writing any code. The dynamic tutorial implementation results in the player receiving information only when they need it, whenever they need it. While the novice player is given all the information they need to learn the system, the expert player is not bogged down by tooltip pop-ups regarding mechanics they have already mastered.

Aprendices y expertos en el aprendizaje incidental en baloncesto. Dos procesamientos cognitivos diferentes

El objetivo del estudio es revisar y evaluar sistemáticamente la literatura relacionada con las estrategias de enseñanza incidental en atletas nóveles y expertos en el aprendizaje de habilidades relacionadas con el baloncesto, con objeto de analizar los efectos subyacentes entre dos procesos cognitivos diferentes en el aprendizaje y el rendimiento. Durante el proceso de búsqueda se consultaron las bases de datos Web of Science, Scopus, SportDiscus y PsycInfo, además de otras fuentes de investigación, siendo finalmente seleccionados 26 estudios. Los resultados indican que, en líneas generales, reducir la cantidad de información que procesan los jugadores produce un efecto positivo en el aprendizaje y el rendimiento. Los atletas con nivel de experiencia bajo en el dominio de una habilidad se benefician de un estilo de enseñanza que favorezca un aprendizaje incidental. Los atletas expertos se basan en un procesamiento más intuitivo que los jugadores nóveles.

A cross-educational approach on skill-related movement technique performance: Central neuronal motor behaviour preceding the short badminton backhand serve

Training in a particular sport not only leads to a higher accuracy in movement, it also creates neuronal modulations in different areas of the brain. Electroencephalography (EEG) has been on the rise to detect these neuronal modulations to address applied research approaches in sports-specific setups with focus on movement-related cortical potentials (MRCP) especially the readiness potential (RP). While many studies considered the RP in laboratory settings using button pressing, there is little research on sport-specific movements performed in realistic setups. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine the short backhand serve of expert and novice badminton players. 16 healthy, right-handed men participated in this study, eight experts and eight novices. A surface EMG was recorded from limb muscles and simultaneous EEG was recorded. RP peak increased significantly (p < 0.05) in expert compared to novices when serving with the dominant hand. RP onsets revealed no significant changes (p = 0.70). In line with previous reports, this study pointed out that complex movements such as the short badminton backhand serve produces higher RP peaks when performed precisely, indicating for long lasting practice and level of experience.